The day before the Class Battle between Earthling Class No. 1 and Martian Class No. 3 had come. And Tenji Line had bad news for his students.
He had just left a special meeting with the headmaster and the Sunbird council to search for his class, many students running around the corridors he passed through and spreading chaos in the absence of their teachers.
Tenji was not going to be teaching anymore today however and thus such concerns were beyond him, instead having focused solely on finding the Earthlings and relaying the information he had learned.
His hot heads were supposed to have a Sculpture Art class and were causing as much mayhem inside the classroom as their schoolmates were outside when the Biology teacher got to them.
Hikaru had created Hock’s head from clay and Seiren – Gorudora’s, both getting ready to destroy them while King had tried to attack Tokura from behind with his Daroid after he had taken away some of his food for himself. The giant was pushed back by the invisible shield around the pseudoknight, throwing aside a couple of desks and destroying what was on them. Among those things was the sculpture of a deer Yuki had just made, the white-haired beauty’s sorrow for losing her new toy being immeasurable.
Many of the girls were throwing clay at each other with joyous smiles and shouts, Annabel using her deva to heal the ones who had been hit too hard, Exo having taken refuge behind the teacher’s desk. Meanwhile Vega had gathered the rest of the girls around him and was giving a passionate speech with all the seriousness a drunk young man could have, his classmates laughing at him.
When Mr. Line entered the room, everyone’s attention turned to him and all of them stopped doing whatever they had up until that point, most likely because they thought their Arts teacher had returned.
(Tenji) ‘Well, it sure looks like you’re enjoying your teacher’s absence a lot.’
(Exo) ‘Not me! I’m just trying to survive here!’
(Tenji) ‘I think you’ll be safe now, Exo. And the rest of you, your teacher should be returning shortly, so if I were you, I’d get to cleaning up my mess fast.’
(King) ‘More important than that … you really look like crap, sensei.’
A coughing fit came over Tenji then, his students gathering around him with concerned faces in an attempt to help him, but he stopped them, taking out a napkin from his pocket to cover his mouth.
After the coughing passed and he stopped shaking, the sick man continued talking.
(Tenji) ‘That’s one of the reasons I came to you now.’ – he turned his face away from all his students in order to not meet their eyes, his expression quickly being overtaken by guilt despite that – ‘I’m afraid I … I won’t be able to come to the Class Battle tomorrow.’
The Biology teacher paused for a moment, realizing no one had said a word in response to his announcement and then deciding to look at the class. As expected, many of them appeared very saddened by his words, some still being mostly worried.
(Hikaru) ‘What’s going on, sensei? Are you OK?’
(Tenji) ‘Not really, Hikaru. The results of my tests from the hospital came in today. Turns out I’m very sick.
Some bacteria have found their way into my lungs and they told me it’s serious, so I’ll have to be admitted right away. I’ve talked to the headmaster and I just wanted to tell you about this myself before going home to get my things for the hospital.’
(Seiren) ‘But we … can’t we do something about this? Help you somehow?’
Tenji’s brats really were a bunch of hopelessly kind people. Although he had expected at least one of them to say something like this, as more students repeated words along the lines of Seiren’s, a smile inevitably found its way to the homeroom teacher’s face.
(Tenji) ‘No, no, don’t worry about me. I didn’t tell you this so you can focus on me. I’ll get better in no time, so it’s OK. I just … I wanted to apologize for not being able to be by your side tomorrow.
The last couple of weeks have been quite wild for this class and just when that reaches its climax with your first ever Class Battle, we’ll be separated.’ – another wave of coughing had already started making its way up his throat, but he focused all of his willpower on delaying the fit for as long as possible – ‘I’ve always told you all that even if I’m coughing blood, I’ll be by your side, but in my current condition, which is probably going to worsen by tomorrow, I won’t be able to either comment on or monitor the Battle properly. Hell, I won’t even be able to support you guys. The last thing you’ll need to see before facing your opponents will be me looking all sick.
What you’ll need will be someone to inspire you and in that regard, I’m happy the Summerbolts were picked to monitor the Class Battle. They’ll be able to make up for my absence just fine.’ – Tenji could no longer suppress the cough, being struck by another fit that made him pause for a while until he could find the strength to keep talking – ‘I arranged for the Martians’ homeroom teacher to not be present as well, though, so they won’t have that advantage over you.’
Mr. Line forced himself to look at Yuki next, being more than reluctant to tell her what he knew he had to considering all the hard work she had put in developing new abilities just to impress everyone on the council enough to let her fight in the Battle. Putting even more pressure on his already tormented body, he managed to say the words.
(Tenji) ‘And about Yuki’s situation … despite my pleading about it again and again, they just won’t agree to let you participate. All I could do was to get permission for you to join the monitoring group.
You’ll get a uniform like your classmates, though, just in case. I was told that if things get bad enough for both sides, you and Ulura will be allowed to join the fray, but otherwise you’re only to watch.’
Though clearly disappointed, the young Miss Iceflame was quickly able to overcome that feeling and show a smile of gratitude to her homeroom teacher.
(Yuki) ‘That’s more than enough for me, sensei. I don’t even know how to thank you for doing this, especially in your condition.
But I’ll start by visiting you at the hospital after the Class Battle to give you an update on the whole thing. And I … we … we’ll help you with anything we can. Just like how you’ve helped us.’
(Tenji) ‘I’d appreciate that, but like I said, don’t worry about me now. Focus on the Battle and the Battle only, unless you want to wind up in a hospital, too.’ – he sighed before continuing because both the cough and the guilt were choking him, when he spoke again having turned to the whole class – ‘I’ve only been bringing you bad news lately and I can’t say how sorry I am about that, but … but no matter what happens to me tomorrow, I’ll be thinking about you guys. And I know you’ll win. I know it. If everything turns out well, I promise we’ll celebrate afterwards.’
(Vega) ‘That’s a must, sensei!! I’ll take care of the party! But you have to make sure you come have fun with us!!’
(Tenji) ‘I’ll do my best, Vega. Just like I want you hot heads to do your best.
I’ve left your uniforms for tomorrow with the headmaster. If you have any more questions, you can turn to him. As for me …’ – he stood by the door frame, knowing his time was running out – ‘… I want to wish you all the luck in the world. We’ll be seeing each other soon, hopefully with news of your victory and my recovery.’
(Tokura) ‘We’ve got this Battle covered, sensei. So you better get well soon!! That’s an order and a promise!!!’
Tenji gave the class a nod and one final smile, going out of the room and waiting until he had reached the corridor’s end to let himself collapse under the effects of the cough he had been holding in.
This sickness was really getting on his nerves. The sooner he got home, the better, so he could be rid of it. In order to do that, the first thing he did when he arrived was to get to the sink in the bathroom and force himself to throw up.
A sense of relief washed over the man almost immediately. After he breathed in air to fill his lungs properly for the first time in a while, the Biology teacher looked at what he had thrown up in the sink, noticing it had the same strange bluish color as the last time.
And the time before.
The good news was Mr. Line wasn’t going to have to take any more sachets to make him sick. His deception had come to an end and now he was free to be himself – the thing he longed for the most.
Next up, he needed to go to the Nightsong Mansion because he had pressing business with that family.
*
Rale was the one who greeted him upon arrival, Tenji guessing Ukris was probably hibernating in the pool at the top of her tower as it was still daytime.
(Rale) ‘You feeling well?’
(Tenji) ‘Knowing that I won’t have to take any more of those sachets you gave me, I’d say I feel terrific.’
(Rale) ‘That was the best way to fool everyone. Did they buy it?’
(Tenji) ‘No suspicion whatsoever.’
(Rale) ‘Great. We can move on with the procedure, then.’
(Tenji) ‘Something I’m really looking forward to. I guess Ukris isn’t up yet?’
(Rale) ‘No. She’ll have plenty of work tonight with all the fuss around prepping the companies after they arrive and getting everything else ready for tomorrow.
Ulura’s out in the back training. You can join her when you wake up to test your new output and to improve your teamwork with her. The two of you will be leading one of the companies, after all.’
(Tenji) ‘I’d love to work with any of the students from her class. If she’s the first of them, even better.’
As they kept walking, Rale turned around for a moment to look and smile at Tenji with a devilish sparkle in his eyes.
(Rale) ‘How does it feel, Line? To finally be fighting on the right side in a Class Battle?
Not that this will actually be a Class Battle, but still. I suppose it’s a lot better than what you felt three years ago when my daughter’s class beat yours. Most of the brats from that class moved away from Deckstoru after what Ulura and the others did to them, right?’
(Tenji) ‘They did. Because they were all pathetic weaklings without a thought of violence in their heads, who were willing to accept the ordinari rule. Fortunately, I’ve learned my lesson since then.’ – all of a sudden, he turned to Ukris’s husband with a mixture of gratitude and happiness on his face – ‘You showed me the path I should really be following. And now I’ll finally be able to repay you for that.’
Rale stopped, he and Tenji having reached a double black door with golden bands near the frame now.
(Rale) ‘Are you ready?’
(Tenji) ‘This is the final step toward gaining my freedom. I am more than ready, Rale.’
Right after receiving confirmation, Ulura’s father took out a key from his back pocket and unlocked the door to reveal a stone staircase that led into the darkness of the mansion’s underground section.
(Rale) ‘Go on, then.’
The Biology teacher went down a couple of stairs first, his guide following suit and pressing a switch on the wall to his left to power on a number of electric-green light bulbs on both sides of the stairs that lit the two’s way as they descended further.
Eventually their journey led them to a metal door at least three meters wide and four and a half meters tall that bore the Nightsong insignia. The insignia consisted of a black circle with a green crescent on one side, three green spikes coming out of the other and a purple quaver note in its center.
Rale placed his palm on the door’s surface and ran blue lasers through it, the sound of gears moving being heard soon enough, which was swiftly followed by the opening of the door. The way this happened was the black circle with the note and the crescent rolled to the side while the rest of the door remained static.
(Tenji) ‘Deva-sensor lock system. That’s very advanced.’
(Rale) ‘Just like everything else beyond this door. Don’t focus too much on any of that right now, though.
Your body will need some time to adapt to the new output if you are to use it tomorrow, so the sooner the procedure is done, the better.’
Tenji followed Mr. Nightsong as the door closed after both of them had passed through it, what lay beyond being a big hall with a black floor, walls and ceiling that was split in two sections with just enough space to walk between them.
Each of those sections was split up into a number of smaller compartments with glass walls, the right section being lit by electric-purple lights and housing high-tech weapons, armor, vehicle parts and other equipment of that type.
The left section was full of tanks of different sizes containing different liquids, some of them having something stored within the liquid. A number of tubes, medical tools and operating tables were visible in between the tanks, all of that being lit by electric-green lights.
These specific lighting colors proved very strenuous for the eyes of Earthling Class No. 1’s homeroom teacher, eventually deciding to stop looking around and just follow Rale who was currently headed toward the left section.
Just before the two went inside, though, Tenji caught a glimpse of another compartment at the far end of the hall beyond the two sections. That compartment was the only one made of metal and not illuminated directly, so it was difficult to see any details. The one thing Mr. Line could make out, however, was that it had an egg-like shape.
(Tenji) ‘You’re right. The sooner we get out of here, the better. Is there any part of this place with normal lighting?’
(Rale) ‘We’re Nightsongs. Normal lighting feels unpleasant for us. We’re forced to deal with that more than enough while being outside, so having the same kind of environment in our home is unacceptable.’
(Tenji) ‘I thought your home was the mansion.’
(Rale) ‘We and especially me and Ukris spend a lot more time down here. There’s so much more to do in the basement and due to the secrecy of our operation, few people know about this place.’ – while Rale was saying that, the two of them entered a compartment with an operating table in the center and a number of different medical and non-medical tools attached to the walls – ‘So whatever needs to be done around here is usually performed by me or her and no one else.
Not to worry though, Line. If you prove yourself tomorrow, you’ll get access to some of this stuff as well.’ – Mr. Nightsong stood next to the table and turned to Tenji with yet another devilish and inviting smile on his face – ‘But first you’ll have to officially join our new deviant society.’
END OF VOLUME ONE
